New consul general of Israel to the Southwest excited about diplomacy in Texas, other states in region
Adi Farjon Israel moved to Houston last month with a nice set of goals to begin her new job as consul general of Israel to the Southwest.
Before she could hit the ground running, however, her Texas staff wanted to make sure the Israeli native got started on the right footing.
“The first thing they came to me with was a list of names for different shops where I can purchase my first boots,” Consul General Farjon Israel said during a visit to the JHV office this month.
“It hasn’t taken long for me to discover Texas is amazing. It is very different from what I expected – in a good way. The warm greetings are just overwhelming, as I now know is the definition of Southern hospitality.”
Farjon Israel will serve a four-year term as consul general, based in Houston and covering a five-state region that includes Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas and New Mexico.
She follows Consul General Livia Link-Raviv, who served in the same role from 2021 until this summer.
Farjon Israel is a career diplomat, having represented Israel in the Dominican Republic, Germany and most recently on the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.
“I find being a diplomat is the best job in the world,” Farjon Israel said. “The basis is working with people, connecting with people and negotiating with people.”
When she had the opportunity to continue her work in Texas, Farjon Israel jumped at the opportunity.
“Texas is a place that supports Israel and there are a lot of great relationships here,” she said. “My predecessor did a very good job of working with elected officials, Jewish leaders and the different communities here. This is something I would like to continue and strengthen.”
Farjon Israel said she has three major goals in her first few months on the job: Bringing more people to visit Israel, combatting antisemitism and connecting the business and technology communities in the Southwest to Israeli counterparts.
More than a dozen themed delegations – mostly from Texas – are already scheduled to travel to Israel from the Southwest region between October and December.
“The best way to strengthen the relationship is by bringing more and more people to Israel,” Farjon Israel said. “This is something we have been focusing on in the past year.
“Our staff members will be more in Israel in the next three months than in Texas.”
The trips will be catered toward different professionals from different industries – energy, water, culinary and more.
“We understand that for someone to understand Israel is to be there in Israel and meet with the people and understand the complexities.
“And Israel is not without complexities Not everything is milk and honey, but if you meet with the people and experience life, the achievements and the challenges, you will understand it better.”
Farjon Israel said a very important pillar of their work is fighting antisemitism.
“We see what happened on Oct. 7. And then we see antisemitism spread on social media, on college campuses and the streets of America, Europe and other places in the world,” she said.
“We would like to do more when it comes to education and giving the tools to those out there on campus.”
Farjon Israel said that from what she has learned, Texas has not seen the levels of hate other places have.
“Thankfully, this region is definitely a champion on combatting antisemitism,” she said.
On the innovation side, Farjon Israel is excited to bring together Texas and Israeli business development and technologies.
Texas created a trade office in Jerusalem that will be open in a few months, she said.
“We are seeing more and more business connections with Israel and Texas,” she said. “We want to continue that and see how we can strengthen economic ties between Israel and this region.
“We plan to do that by bringing more delegations from Texas to Israel and exposing the Israeli innovations here and finding good fits for business collaboration in all fields.”
Farjon Israel said those industries include energy, cybersecurity, health care, water and others.
“There are great minds in Israel and some mind-blowing innovations,” she said. “We would like to connect these ideas and the entrepreneurship spirit of Israelis to the region here. These are industries that are important to Israel and Texas, and we can work well together.”
The consul general looks forward to bringing more Israeli culture and arts to the area as well. She has a B.A. in arts and film history and says it is one of her passions.
“Israeli culture is really amazing,” she said. “Arts, dance, theater, music – you can feel the uniqueness of resilience that you cannot find in other places. We want to bring more of this to the Southwest.”
Farjon Israel is joined in Houston by her husband, Naor Israel, and their three sons.
“I look like a serious diplomat with a jacket and true Israeli accent, but above all I am a mom to three Israeli boys,” she said. “They can be very noisy, very energetic and have a lot of homework.”
Farjon Israel looks forward to living in and working with the diverse Houston Jewish community.
“There are a lot of similarities between Israelis and Texans,” she said. “The way we approach tackling problems, I feel, we are the same.
“I felt this beautiful feeling when I first got here. The community gets along here and works together,” she said.
“It’s funny, each rabbi will recommend me to meet another rabbi. This is beautiful and I really like it. That is very unique in the U.S. and the world, and it gives us an opportunity to work with everyone.
“We see ourselves as part of the Jewish community here and we work hand in hand. We work together on less pleasant issues, but we also work together to strengthen the sense of community and exposure to Israel and Israeli culture.
“The community here is already very connected to Israel. To see an Israeli flag in a synagogue is something that really warms my heart.
“We just want to continue bringing the beautiful face of Israel to the community.”